Is there Help for Type 2 Diabetes?

With over 86 million Pre-Diabetic and 26 million Diabetic Americans, to say we have a growing health concern is an understatement. The truth of the matter is that Type 2 Diabetes is an entirely preventable and reversible lifestyle disease.

There is clear evidence from the scientific literature that Diabetes is reversible, especially if it is caught early and treated aggressively through lifestyle intervention and nutritional support. In many cases even later stage Diabetes can be reversed with very intensive lifestyle changes, medications, and supplements.

At Live. Now, we offer a comprehensive lifestyle program that includes a diabetic diet, exercise, stress management, detoxification, functional support and key clinical nutrients. This comprehensive approach will give you the tools you need to help YOU manage insulin and blood sugar while improving your health and wellbeing.

To understand how all these tools apply, it’s helpful to know how insulin works.

A Balancing Act: Insulin and Blood Sugar

Insulin helps keep glucose (sugar) levels in the bloodstream within normal range. When you eat, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, our primary energy source. When glucose enters the bloodstream, the pancreas responds by producing insulin, which enables glucose to enter the body’s tissues. Excess glucose is stored in the liver; when needed to sustain blood sugar between meals, the liver releases sugar and the pancreas responds with more insulin to help it enter cells. This balancing act keeps the amount of sugar in the bloodstream stable.

When the pancreas secretes little or no insulin (type I diabetes), when your body doesn’t produce enough insulin, or when your cells are resistant to insulin (common in type II diabetes), sugar levels in the bloodstream can get too high.Chronic high blood sugar can lead to complications such as blindness, nerve damage, and kidney damage.

Contributing Lifestyle Factors

Certain environmental and lifestyle factors increase the need for insulin, which is a problem when the body can’t produce enough.

Diabetic Diet and Diabetes Management

Processed and fast foods drive inflammation, which causes insulin resistance and other disease processes. It also increases Cortisol levels, which can increase blood sugar levels.

Food sensitivities cause immune and inflammatory responses, which causes insulin resistance. Many people have food sensitivities they don’t know about.

Paying attention to Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load. The glycemic index measures the insulin response your body has after eating a food. The higher the number, the more insulin your pancreas needs to secrete. Glycemic load is the amount of that food eaten.

Exercise and Diabetes

Fat cells have insulin receptors. Exercise burns calories and fat; fewer cells mean less need for insulin. And, when you exercise, your muscles need more energy to fire and insulin receptor sites become more receptive. Even a short walk can reduce blood sugar levels and insulin demands dramatically.

Stress and Diabetes

Up to 90% of doctor visits are related to chronic stress. Stress has a big impact on insulin by:

Decreasing insulin receptor sensitivity, which means the body must make more insulin to have the same response to blood sugar.

Elevating Cortisol, which can raise blood sugar levels.

Causing the liver to raise blood sugar (the body’s way of increasing energy to handle stressful situations). Raised blood sugar means more need for insulin.

Toxins and Diabetes

Toxins are found throughout our environment — in body products, food, air, and water. The body gets overworked trying to deal with them, causing inflammation and increasing insulin resistance. Inflammation shuts down receptor sites, requiring the body to make more insulin.

Essential Nutrients for Blood Sugar Regulation

Alpha-Lipoic Acid — Alpha-lipoic acid is one of the main nutrients responsible for making sugar into energy. Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant, it helps reduce insulin resistance.

Magnesium — Diabetics tend to utilize magnesium faster than non-diabetics. Magnesium is responsible for making energy, helps muscles and nerves fire, and is responsible for over 300 processes in the body. Low magnesium can contribute to constipation, depression, and high blood pressure.

Zinc — Excess inflammation causes you to use more zinc than normal. Because diabetes is rooted in inflammation, a lot of diabetics are low in zinc. An important nutrient to the pancreas, it plays a role in almost 300 reactions in the body.

B-Vitamins — The B-vitamins play a role in almost every cellular process. Diabetic medications can deplete B-vitamins.

It is important to note that you shouldn’t begin supplementing without first confirming deficiencies. At Live. Now we test vs. guess so you can gain complete clarity and insight for the best clinical results that will allow you to live your best life now.